Maya Angelou memorial to be hosted at Glide church

Former Mayor Willie Brown poses for a portrait at his apartment in the St. Regis Hotel on Thursday July 31, 2008 in San Francisco, Calif.

Former Mayor Willie Brown poses for a portrait at his apartment in...

(06-09) 09:09 PDT SAN FRANCISCO -- Maya Angelou loved San Francisco so much that she asked that her memorial service be held here.

The request was included in her will, and I'm happy to announce that a service will be held at Glide Memorial United Methodist Church, where Maya did so many good works.

The memorial is scheduled for June 15 at 1 p.m. and will be hosted by Maya's good friend the Rev. Cecil Williams, his wife, Janice Mirikitani, and our own Mayor Ed Lee.

We'll be blocking off the streets surrounding the church, just as we did at SS Peter and Paul's Church for the late Lorenzo Petroni.

The primary results worked out very well for Jim Brulte's plan to rebuild the California Republican Party.

As both a former assemblyman and state senator, Brulte has a realistic grasp of what the GOP can and cannot accomplish this fall on the state level.

Brulte knows the GOP isn't going to unseat Gov. Jerry Brown, but Republicans could pull a couple of upsets, starting with the state controller's race.

There's already a good chance the Democrats won't be fielding a candidate in that one in November, as GOP Fresno Mayor Ashley Swearengin looks to have finished first in the primary and Republican accountant David Evans could ace out a pair of Democrats, former Assembly Speaker John Pérez and Board of Equalization member Betty Yee, for the second spot.

Republican Pete Peterson could also give Democratic state Sen. Alex Padilla a run for his money in the secretary of state contest.

If nothing else, Tuesday's voting suggests California Republicans have a future - which is more than you could say after the past few elections.

President Obama's Rose Garden rollout of the prisoner swap for Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl was one of the biggest blunders I have seen in some time.

Didn't anyone on the president's staff check into the story that Bergdahl had wandered off the base on his own in Afghanistan? Getting the guy back is great, but given the hazy circumstances, it wasn't exactly Rose Garden announcement material - more like a 5 o'clock press release on a Friday when the president is out of town.

The other night this guy comes up to me and says: "Can you believe the deal President Obama cut to get that prisoner back?

"He traded five Afghan Talibans for one local one."

That sickout by Muni drivers went nowhere.

In fact, the joke on the street was, "Did you notice any difference?"

People were inconvenienced and people were annoyed, but mostly people made do.

I see where Oakland City Councilwoman Rebecca Kaplan has pulled an Ed Lee, changed her mind and decided to run for mayor.

That's bad news for Jean Quan, because Kaplan could run ahead of her in the pre-election polls, which is a headline no incumbent wants to see going into a race.

Kaplan has also made a point in her years on the council of not offending anyone - ever. She has a good relationship with the left, she has a good relationship with the cops, and she has a good relationship with the business community.

And between ranked-choice voting and running in a pack of 17, there's a good chance Kaplan will never have to answer a hard question on the campaign trail.

As fate would have it, yours truly was on hand for the arrest of Ryan Chamberlain at Crissy Field.

I was on my way to the nearby St. Francis Yacht Club on Monday evening for an event being put on by the Italian consul general.

As we came off Marina Boulevard, there were a couple of cops who had a guy down.

We slowed down and went on, and within minutes the place exploded with more sirens than you'd hear in an air raid.

Later we all found out this was the end to a "nationwide search" for the former political consultant, who allegedly had materials for a bomb in his apartment. All the while, the guy was hanging out on Haight Street and shopping with his ATM card!

Movie time: "A Million Ways to Die in the West." The first joke in this comedy starring Seth MacFarlane and Charlize Theron is hilarious. By the time they riff off the same bit several dozen more times, the laugh wears off.

Save your time. Save your money. There are a million ways to have a better time than going to this movie.

The owner of 1300 Fillmore was telling me about this party of 12 that came in the other night.

"When we have a party of more than six, we include a standard gratuity," Monetta White said.

"When the bill came, they began to split up the check, and there was suddenly a great deal of discussion going on.

"The waiter went over to see if he could help, then came back to the bar with a bemused look on his face.